Second In Command
by Lena7623
Summary: What if Loki had a side kick during 'The Avengers' Someone powerful enough that he couldn't dominate the normal way but possibly too useful to turn away? Will that make events turn out any different, or will he just have a bunkmate in some prison? Eventually Loki/OC.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: What if Loki had a side kick during 'The Avengers?' Someone powerful enough that he couldn't dominate the normal way but possibly too useful to turn away? Will that make events turn out any different, or will he just have a bunkmate in some prison?

(Author's Note: Chapter one (and a few other chapters), will actually rely heavily on the movie script, but, as that doesn't seem to exist online yet, I'm going to have to go on memory and fill in the more specifics later. Please feel free to Private Message me with possible line corrections, as I've only sadly seen the movie twice. Still, I hope you enjoy it!)

Chapter One: Interesting

Agent Anna Delallo looked around the underground room that they were in at the moment. She was one of the guards assigned to the Tesseract and the scientist, Eric Selvig, who was working on it, supposedly trying to provide the world with a clean, always burning energy. For some reason, she doubted that was the only reason that S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted to play with the little blue box, but they didn't provide that sort of information to a regular agent such as herself.

Not that there was anything terribly regular about her. The long, silky dark brown hair that she had was always tied back for her work, but there was little that she could do to hide her intense blue eyes. Most of her fellow agents complained that her stare was almost too intense to stand for very long. That usually just made her laugh. One of the few other things to make her laugh was beating the ever loving hell out of anyone that she was told to attack. Strong, quick, and resilient, she was. In her last review, it had been noted in her file that she seemed to enjoy her work a little too much. Another thing that caused her coworkers to keep their distance. It wasn't as if she had taken this job to make friends with her coworkers. She was actually the completely silent type with them unless she had to talk. She'd rather listen to what others around here said than to speak and possibly not hear something that was needed.

The word tonight (as if she couldn't see it for herself), was that the Tesseract was acting up. Turning itself on instead of staying quiet like a good little cube. She wasn't aware that cubes could behave or misbehave, but she'd seen many things in her lifetime, so little shocked her anymore.

Icy blue eyes flicked back and forth as she felt almost electrified, like there was even more current in the air than normal. She listened as Selvig and Director Nick Fury talked as the Director came in to chide about the Tesseract.

"Is there anything that we know for certain?" Fury asked Selvig as they walked toward the Tesseract.

"The Tesseract is misbehaving," Selvig replied.

This caused Fury to glare at the man. "Is that supposed to be funny?" he asked with an incredulous look on his face.

Selvig frowned. "No, it's not funny at all. The Tesseract is not only active, she's...misbehaving."

"How soon until you pull the plug?" Fury asked.

Selvig quickly shook his head. "She's an energy source. If we turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level..." He trailed off. There was talk of evacuating, although Anna herself doubted that they could get far enough away if this little cube decided to blow up.

Fury continued. "We've prepared for this, doctor. Harnessing energy from space."

Selvig shook his head, frustrated again that Fury wasn't seemingly getting his point. "We don't have the harness. Our calculations are far from complete. Now she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation."

Fury sighed. "That can be harmful." He then turned his attention off the Tesseract for the moment. "Where's Agent Barton?"

"The Hawk?" Anna cut off, watching them steadily as both turned toward her. "Up in his nest, as usual." They were talked about Agent Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye, a man who seemingly had perfect aim with a gun and a bow. The man was almost as quiet as Anna seemed to be on the job, not doing much socializing unless you name was Natasha.

Anna pointed to where Barton was, and Fury headed off in his direction while Selvig went back to working on the little blue box that was causing all of this fuss. She turned her attention away from Barton and Fury as they talked, feeling another electrical spike in the air. She happened to be the first to be looking at the cube directly when a portal started to open on their end. Fury and Barton managed to back away from the growing portal just in enough time to watch as it seemingly exploded, knocking a few of the people that were closer on the ground.

Weapon now drawn from her gun holster, Anna could see a shape in the still bright light as it faded away. As the blue light darkened, she was able to discern what the shape looked like. Male, humanoid, black hair, sharp features, tall, thin but muscular, but it was his eyes that she caught herself staring at. Green eyes that seemed able to pierce into a person's soul, see all of their secrets, and expose them to the world.

Interesting...

She watched as a feral grin appeared on his face as he looked them over. It was then that her own eyes dropped to the weapon that he was carrying, a scepter had had a glowing orb in it, the same color as the Tesseract.

"Sir, please put down the spear!" Fury called out, weapon drawn. Barton and the other agents had their weapons drawn as well.

Instead of answering, the man aimed the scepter at Barton and Fury, letting loose a ball of blue exploding light from it, knocking the both of them back. She watched as he moved faster than human eyes could keep up with, taking down those that came near him.

When he reached Barton, he seemed to have a different reaction. When Barton aimed his gun at him, the other man twisted his arm, looking him over. "You have heart," he said, leaning the scepter forward and tapping it against Barton's chest. Anna then watched as Barton's eyes went black and then blue, arching an eyebrow as Barton then holstered his weapon. This was intriguing.

As the man moved to do the same tap to move agents, Anna simply watched. She heard Fury taking the Tesseract and placing it in a secure briefcase, which also seemed to attract the dark haired one's attention.

"Please don't," he said, turning his attentions to Fury, who had been heading out of the lab. "I still need that."

"This doesn't have to get any messier," Fury kept a gun trained on him with his free hand.

"Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose." That made a few things click in her head. He had to be from the same place as that other God with the hammer that appeared recently. She remembered the incident in New Mexico last year. She had been in South America during it, which made her a little sad as she had missed seeing the gods walk among men, apparently, but it seemed that now she was getting her second chance.

It seemed that Selvig, who had actually been there, had come to the same conclusion. "Loki? Brother of Thor?"

Loki sneered when Selvig mentioned Thor. Trouble in the family? Either way, it seemed that he wasn't going to disagree.

"We have no quarrel with your people," Fury said, keeping watch on the Asgardian.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot," Loki sneered at him.

That seemed to anger Fury. "You planning to step on us?"

That didn't quite seem to be Loki's plans. "I come with glad tidings, of a world made free."

"Free from what?" Anna asked. She had stayed quiet and removed until then. It seemed that everyone had forgotten that the quiet agent was in the room. That was usually how she operated: make people forget she existed until she struck. Fury himself gave her a look that seemed to ask why she hadn't fired a single shot so far.

Loki turned to her and smiled. A less secure person might have been frightened by that look. "Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart..." He turned his attention toward Selvig, giving him the same treatment that he had given Barton and the others. She couldn't help but notice that his voice had a melodious quality to it. She wondered if he ever sang. "You will know peace."

"Yeah, you say peace, I kind of think you mean the other piece," Fury said, still glaring at her.

It was odd. They all looked...happy to have this done to them. They really did look free.

Definitely intriguing for Anna. "Then free me," she said, sheathing her own gun, opening her arms, and dropping to her knees, not bothering to look at the surprised and horrified look on Fury's face.

Loki's face broke into a wide grin. "It's nice to see that some of you know your place," he said, strolling over to her and tapping the scepter against her chest. However, other than a light electrical buzz, it didn't seem to do anything.

Loki's head tilted in confusion. "You're not mortal, are you?" he asked.

"Never said I was," Anna replied with a grin. She looked over his shoulder. "Loki...that makes you the God of Mischief, is that right?" When he nodded, she jumped off her knee, pulling out her gun, and shooting over Loki's shoulder, nailing Fury in the chest as he tried to come up behind Loki. "Mischievous enough for you yet?" she asked with a smirk.

Before he had the chance to reply, Barton interrupted. "Sir, this place is about to blow. Drop a hundred feet of raw material, Fury means to bury us."

Selvig nodded. "He's right; the portal is collapsing in on itself. You got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

She watched as Loki picked up the discarded case that Fury had put the Tesseract in. "Then we should go," the dark haired God said. He started walking toward the hallway that would eventually lead to the surface, with everyone that he had mesmerized with his scepter following. As she had made her stance even without having the blue whammy done to her, Anna followed as well. She knew that Fury would be getting up soon (the bastard wore a bullet proof vest), she at least hoped that he wouldn't do it in time to escape from the collapse of the building. If he did, this would be SO much more of a pain in the ass.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Private Talk

Fury HAD gotten away in enough time to not be crushed, but both Anna and Barton had been able to keep anyone that he sent after them off their tail with their guns, and Loki blasted Fury out of the helicopter he had tried to chase them in with his scepter. She had the guess that it was powered in some way by the cube, but didn't say anything during the ride toward wherever the hell they were going. Loki gave Dr. Selvig brief directions as the older man drove, but Anna wasn't too familiar with the area, so she paid them little mind. She kept to herself during the drive, staying quiet again, but she could feel Loki's eyes on her throughout most of the car ride. As he likely didn't expect someone to both give themselves over so quickly OR still go when his magic couldn't turn them, she assumed that he at least wondered what her agenda was.

Truth was she had very little agenda. That was likely what made her dangerous to deal with. She had no real want for power or riches in this life. She was just...a lot more chaotic than she had let on. She hid her true nature as much as she could from her now former employers. She had worked for them for a while simply because it had been something to pass her endless amounts of time. It let her attack others without being chased too badly for it. Oh there was always someone chasing her, as S.H.I.E.L.D. had plenty of enemies, but the agency had kept her cloaked fairly well enough. It had served its purpose, though, so now it was time to toss off the identity of an agent like a cloak.

When they arrived to the HQ that Loki seemed to have previously set up somehow (once again, Anna didn't ask questions), they were shown inside. It seemed that equipment was already set up for Dr. Selvig to being working with the Tesseract again, which the man seemed positively gleeful to have. As Barton wandered off to check the grounds for possible security breaches, Anna moved to follow him, more out of habit than anything, but she felt Loki's hand touch her shoulder to stop her before she could.

His touch was cool, and, since Anna was naturally a hot blooded creature, the difference was all the more distinct. The doctors at S.H.I.E.L.D. had almost rejected her for service, as her temperature had always run around 101F, higher than the human average. They had thought her sick in some way. However, she had proven that, besides that anomaly, she was healthy.

The Asgardian's grip was light but firm. "Let's talk in private," he said. Even though his tone sounded light, she could sense the undercurrent in his voice said that he would take no argument. With a nod, she turned around, following Loki toward another door, leaving off to what looked to be a sitting room. She shut the door behind them for a modicum of privacy.

She turned around to face him, her own blue eyes not wavering from his green ones. "What are you?" he asked, looking her over. "I thought that only humans worked for that agency, although I can't figure out just why you would have joined with them."

"I did it to pass the time," she admitted with a shrug. "And no, I'm not human," she told him, giving him a slightly feral grin. "Whatever made me didn't exactly stick around long enough to explain anything else." Her first memory was waking up alone, fully formed, and adult. "I've been alive on this dirtball of a planet long enough to watch these primitive apes grow up to the point that they think they're the most important thing in the universe. Gets old after a while."

That elicited a chuckle out of him. "Sounds like you're old. Old as me, even."

She nodded. "Old but stuck here, unlike you." She started to pace the room. This was likely the most that she had talked to anyone in a long while, but she couldn't even remember the last time she had WANTED to talk to someone. Dealing with anyone that even sparked her curiosity made her nervous. It had been easier to run into 'interesting' people in times past, but they had pulled away from this world as humanity had become more secular. After a while it felt like she was alone here with humans. She didn't know what she was, but she had always felt like she didn't belong here.

"What is it that you want, then? Off of this planet? Off to a better world?" he asked, studying her again. She supposed that he was still trying to figure out what she was. If he had any real ideas, she'd be glad to hear them. She wondered what sort of lore that he knew or had access to. Even the oldest libraries that she had been able to get into couldn't tell her anything about what she was. It was part of the reason why she hated this place so much. It had never been of any help to her.

"I'd just be happy to watch this one burn," she admitted to him. "But whatever you have in mind I'm sure will be just as fun," she continued in what, to others who had 'known' her, was an uncharacteristically light tone. What others didn't know was that she could actually be a happy little thing. She just had hated her current situation so much that she saw no point to show it to others. That had changed, obviously.

"I take it your real name's not "Anna' then," he said.

She laughed. "I didn't say my name. Guess that makes you a mind reader, among other things," she replied. "It's a name as good as any. Whatever made me didn't exactly leave me a nametag." She had dealt with a few mind readers in the past. One had been sure that she was insane because her thought pattern was erratic. She supposed she might be by human standards. Just meant that they couldn't keep up with her.

When she stopped pacing, he walked closer to her, looking down on her as he slowly circled her. "Can you die, not-Anna?" he asked.

"Technically yes, but then there's just fire and I'm reborn, so it's really not worth the effort," she told him with a casual shrug. It had happened a few times during her life, but she found it more annoying than anything did. Only cutting off her head seemed to trigger it, and then she caught aflame and regenerated a new body. It annoyed her because that tended to burn off her clothing. She'd lost plenty of nice things to that trick.

"Like the Phoenix of Greek tradition?" he asked. It was interesting to watch someone stare as she usually stared at others. She didn't find it nearly as unnerving as humans did, though. Then again, she felt like she had nothing to hide from him. When she nodded, he smiled again. "I think 'Phoenix' is a more fitting name for a ruler than 'Anna,' don't you?"

That caught her by surprise. Then again, she supposed that she was too strong of an ally to turn away, so why not a 'political' joining? "Second in command or equal in rule?" she asked. Might as well know where she stood.

"Second in command," he said bluntly.

"OK!" she said cheerfully. She bent down on one knee again, showing her supplication to him. "Then what's the plan, my king?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Chilled

Time went quickly after their agreement. He had explained his plan to her, which he was going to lead an army from another planet and subjugate this world to his rule. It was something that she looked forward to seeing. A part of her had always craved oblivion that the world just being gone would bring, but this plan worked, too. It was more than enough to keep her interested. The idea of watching as the other humans on this planet forced to work under his rule was amusing to her.

Other things were interesting her as well. She was finding more that she enjoyed watching Selvig work on the Tesseract now. Science had never really interested her. She much more enjoyed physicality rather than anything else. It was more the way that Selvig seemed to enjoy what he was doing now. The worry that had previously etched his face seemed completely dead and gone. Whatever exactly was going on with Selvig and the others made humans almost tolerable to be around. They bitched a lot less and seemed content.

She couldn't quite experience the same pure bliss that Selvig and the others did. Loki's scepter did not seem to work on her. Even having a cause and a person to follow did her well, though. Barton seemed to find it amusing that she smiled a lot more than he'd ever seen. She actually didn't think of them as under mind control. Barton, Selvig, and the others always said that they appreciated the 'knowledge' that the Tesseract had shown them. They really did seem to be happier in this state.

Today was another day of watching Selvig play with the Tesseract and just be marveled at it. Barton had found himself a new perch to look down from, and the newly renamed Phoenix was watching everything from a corner of the room. She still had her gun at her side, but she really felt no need for it. Only a few that would likely be called in for this would be hurt by a gun. She assumed that the others she could just hit until they stopped moving. That's usually how she ended up doing things, anyway. She really did enjoy getting her hands dirty.

Loki was sitting alone, away from the others. He looked as if he was meditating, but, from the strained expression on his face, she could tell that he wasn't relaxing. She assumed he was doing something magical. She had never practiced magic, but she did appreciate its worth. She had discovered long ago that, if she concentrated, she could feel magic around her. Only when she put forth the effort to concentrate, though. She shut her eyes and did so, just to satisfy her curiosity. It felt like the electricity of the Tesseract, only more powerful. Whatever secrets that little blue box held, she knew immediately that it belonged to Loki, or at least his people. It was Asgardian technology. Loki's magic and it felt too similar for that to be any different.

She opened her eyes and lost the connection just in time to watch as Loki winced in pain before opening his own eyes. Their eyes connected for a second before she heard Selvig talking, causing her eyes to flicker back toward the scientist.

"Where did you find all of these people?" Selvig asked Barton. She hadn't even realized that Barton had come down from his newly picked out perch. Then again, she had been distracted.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has no shortage of enemies, Doctor," Barton replied with a slight smirk. He held up a screen to Selvig. Curious, Phoenix walked over, looking over Barton's shoulder to see what it was. "Is this the stuff that you need?"

Selvig nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, Iridium. It's found in meteorites, it forms anti-protons. It's very hard to get hold of."

"Especially if SHIELD knows you need it," Barton replied, the wheels in his head already spinning, by the look on his face.

"Well, I didn't know!" Selvig exclaimed.

"Seems like the two of you have learned a lot from it," Phoenix said, eyes flickering over at the Tesseract again.

Selvig nodded. "It's shown me so many things that I never thought of imagining," he said, his own eyes looking back toward the blue block. The thing was mesmerizing, she had to admit that. It was odd, but she was a little jealous that these two could get things from the Tesseract when, while she could feel it, it couldn't do the same to her.

She heard a silken chuckle behind her, whirling around to see Loki standing behind them. Selvig and Barton wandered off to continue their work, while Loki moved up beside her while she turned her eyes back to the glowing blue box. "The mind qualities only work on lower beings," he remarked. She suspected that he had read her earlier jealousy from her thoughts. "It expands their minds to our level."

"They really are blissful looking," she remarked. "I've never seen Selvig so relaxed and happy."

"Rulers can't quite have that sort of bliss," Loki remarked. "The bliss that you're seeing in them is the freedom of choice. It's people like us who have to make the choices for them."

Her eyes moved over to look at him. It was startling to be close to him. It was easy for her to forget the extreme height difference between them. She only came up to his chest. When this close, she had to crane her neck up at him to look at his face. "It is easy to forget that their happiness comes from the fact that they're free from choices." She just needed to keep remembering that.

"Exactly," Loki said to her. Then he rested his hand on her back, just under the back of her neck. His thumb brushed against just under the collar of her shirt. She shuddered at the feel of his cool skin against her own always boiling flesh. Before she realized it, though, he was pulling his hand away.

That was curious. It had to be from the slight chill in his touch. He was colder than even humans were, though. She found that she normally couldn't even stand to have humans touch her. She performed the usual handshakes that she had to, but otherwise did little in the way of touching. They felt clammy to her, especially these days. That and they complained that she felt feverish if they lingered for too long. Loki's touch was different, though. It was something completely different from anything she'd encountered. Sometimes she actually became too overheated and would want to fling herself into a lake. Loki's touch brought on a similar experience: cooling and relaxing.

Her eyes turned back toward him, but he was already moving away, distracted by something else. It was for the best, though. She had things that she needed to do as well. In addition, she really wanted to forget the fact that Loki's fingers had practically made her purr.

What she wanted to do right now was beat the hell out of something. When she heard an alarm start going off, something that Barton had installed, she almost felt relieved. At least that would make for a good distraction right now.

The intercom that was in her ear crackled to life. "S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives on the perimeter," Barton's voice barked in her ear. "Seems like they traced us here."

She had to stop herself from muttering 'Good,' as she'd at least have something to do rather than stand around and crave people _touching_ her.

She looked back at Loki, who had a glare on his face. "Take care of it," he said, spinning away, leather coat flowing around him.

With a nod, she headed outside. While Barton could do his thing from far away, she much preferred to be up close. She wasn't the type to look before she leaped, if mainly because, at least on this world, she didn't have to. Humans were entertainingly breakable, after all.

The band of operatives was small. It seemed that they had caught something more of a recon mission rather than a full assault. She threw herself at the first of them. This wouldn't be a fight with guns tonight. She had the impulse to literally tear these people to pieces.

At least the operatives had training, or this might be boring. She had jumped on the leader of the group. She didn't recognize him off the bat, but she didn't know every worker for S.H.I.E.L.D., either. She heard a arrow fly by her ear, so she could only assume that Barton had fired off an arrow at one of the others. She was concentrating on her task at hand. She tightened her hands around the larger man's throat. This was what she wanted. Growling slightly, she squeezed the man's neck until his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

When he stopped moving, she grinned. She had been so distracted by what she was doing that she hadn't heard someone sneaking up behind her until she heard an explosion behind her. Turning around, she saw the dissipating light that was the signature of Loki's scepter. He was standing a little further away, scepter still aimed as the now very dead body at her feet.

She smiled and bowed her head to him in thanks. She then launched out her fist toward her left and knocked away what seemed to be the final operative. Barton had taken out the rest with his arrows. It was amazing just how damn impressive he was with that bow. Before the last operative could sit up, she pulled a knife out of her boot and slashed his throat without so much as a second glance, looking down at her shirt with distain as blood splattered on it.

"Damn. I liked this one," she grumbled. "Nothing gets out blood."

She looked up just in time to watch as Loki pulled her up from the ground, waving his hand over her shirt and making the blood disappear. She looked up at him and kept herself from focusing on the feel of his hand on her bare arm.

"Better?" he asked with a smile.

"Much, my king," she said, returning his smile and bowing her head slightly.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: In Need of a Translator

They were able to move bases quickly, thankfully. Just because they had taken out all of the team that had been sent against them didn't mean that their location still anything resembled secure. While the old place had been a warehouse, this one had been a mansion with a large basement for Selvig to work in. She really had no idea how Loki was getting this places on such short notice. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to ask.

Even though the house was lovely, Phoenix was feeling restless. She wasn't the type to sit over and work on something like Selvig did, and she could only watch others for so long as Barton was doing.

And a wretchedly bored Phoenix was a bad thing.

She didn't have the ability to teleport around like some people, so she had to leave and get around the old fashioned way. The 'old fashioned way' turned out to be a motorcycle that she stole from one of the other people working around the facility. Of course, when he complained, she pinned him to a wall by his shoulder with a knife. Then he just screamed.

She drove into the nearest town, realizing that she STILL didn't quite know where they were. She wouldn't normally be so blatantly ignorant of where she was, but she just found that she simply didn't care. She could go anywhere in this world. What difference did one place make from another now?

She knew that she was still in the southwest by the desert air. She was apparently close enough to a large city because she managed to get there on a motorcycle in half an hour. At least now, she could keep herself entertained. Now that she wasn't working for S.H.I.E.L.D., she didn't have to behave herself.

After a trip around the city, she figured out what she wanted to do. After breaking into a propane store and stealing a few tanks, she rigged them up around a restaurant. It was some too nice, stuffy one that, no matter what she wore or how much money she flashed around, she never felt comfortable in it. Watching it burn would be nice.

"Having fun?" A voice said behind her as she was setting up the final tank. She whirled around, hand reaching for her gun, only to see Loki standing behind her. Tonight his slender frame was clad simply, in a silken green shirt and tight black slacks. He really was a remarkable sight, no matter what he wore. It was actually nice to see him in the simpler clothing rather than his leather vestments. It let his true looks shine through.

"Actually, yes," she said, looking up at him with a smile. "I'm allowed to do this, right?" she asked, eyebrow raised. She hadn't even thought that he might be trying to keep a low profile or something until now. Damn...

"Oh no, don't let me stop you," he said with a wave of his hand. "I was actually wondering what that agent did to anger you enough to leave him hanging by the knife in his shoulder."

She hopped up with a gleeful bounce, heading over across the street to a park so that she could watch the explosion from a distance when she set it off. "He didn't want to lend me his transportation," she said with a slight pout as she pulled the trigger device from her pocket. It was a crude bomb that she had constructed, a small bomb that would go off with each propane tank, but the explosions would help the building burn, along with the people inside.

"I could have brought you into this town, or at least arranged for your transportation," Loki said to her, watching with what appeared to be amusement as she played with the trigger for a moment, finally pressing the button and actually giggling as parts of the building exploded, biting her lip to keep her from fully cackling as she heard the screams within.

"I didn't think it proper to trouble my King with such matters," she said, bowing slightly to him before turning back toward the building. She was trying not to laugh too loudly simply because she didn't want to attract any undue attention, although she supposed the burning building in front of them would keep anyone from noticing her glee for a while. "Besides, I can take care of at least the simple matters. I'm just trying to find ways to entertain myself in the interim."

He nodded. "Actually, there is a way that you can be entertained if you'd like to come along," Loki said to her. She arched an eyebrow at him before walking over to the parked bike that she had brought. She swung her leg over, sitting down on the bike while looking up at him while waiting for him to continue. "Selvig needs something that can only be gotten in Stuttgart, Germany. I get to play as a distraction while Barton gets it." He grinned. "Care to join?"

"Does this involve getting captured, screwing with the enemy, and then escaping while they flail?" she asked, deadpan. He nodded. "Could be fun." She cranked the motorcycle, grinning as it roared to life. "Are you gonna just do the teleporting thing back or would you like a ride?"

He looked at the bike for a moment before shrugging and sliding on it behind her, arms sliding around her waist. "How does this thing work, exactly? Is it the same as a car?" he asked.

"Kinda. Take it apart when we get back," she told him, making sure to keep herself from thinking about where his hands where and instead on the road that was about to be under her. "For now, just think of it as a faster horse." Without another word, she revved the engine and pulled out of the park at a breakneck pace, cackling as they rode away, feeling his arms tighten around her as she could swear that she heard him chuckle behind her.

When she had been told about Stuttgart, this wasn't quite what she had been expecting. She frowned at her reflection that shown in one of the windows in the art museum. She couldn't remember the last time that she had been in a dress, much less one this fancy. Her eyes moved down to the green chiffon strapless evening gown that she was wearing, tied at the middle with a sash to accentuate her waist. Even her hair was different from the norm, as she had been convinced by Loki to wear it down and smoothed out for a change instead of up and simply tied out of her face. Feeling so different than normal made her itch. Still, tonight she was supposed to play distraction.

Loki caught her frowning at her reflection. "You shouldn't worry so much. You look exquisite," he told her. She still stared at the reflection, although now she could also see his smile from behind her.

"I can't move in this thing, though," Phoenix said to him. The heels on her feet didn't bother her too much. It was just impossible to run in them. The dress got in the way of her legs when she moved too quickly.

"For tonight, at least, the plan isn't to put up much of a fight," he remarked. Finally turning around, she looked him over, smiling as she looked over the suit and scarf he was wearing.

"Did I mention I liked your scarf?" she asked him with a grin.

He shook his head. "Thank you," he said with a smile of his own, looking down at the bottom floor as someone started speaking in German. "Do you understand German?" he asked.

She nodded. "You live on this planet long enough and you pick up the languages that these people speak," she said, looking down at the man speaking as well. "It's nothing important that he's saying. It's all art stuff."

"I'm not worried about what he's saying," Loki said with a wave of his hand. "It just works to have someone speaking the plebeians' language when you want them to do what you want." She nodded at his explanation. English might be the international language of business now, but that didn't mean that everyone spoke it. "Something that we have to do first, though."

She nodded. Barton was going to need an eye recognition to pass through to get whatever it was that Selvig needed. Some metal that would allow for him to build around the Tesseract and eventually help with opening the portal that would allow Loki's army to come through and rain down destruction. She didn't take down many of the details. She just knew soon they'd attack and take down the old way of doing things around this planet, and she'd be 'working with the new government.'

As he headed down the stairs toward the bottom floor, she walked beside him. To anyone who didn't know, together the two of them looked like an ordinary couple out at an art gallery. Anyone who thought that would be an idiot, though.

After they descended the stairs, Loki first attacked one of the guards. Flipping his walking stick, he swung it to the side, giving Phoenix plenty of warning to bend backward out of the way while he slammed it against the guard's head. He then nonchalantly grabbed an older gentleman without any words and slammed him against some sort of tablet table looking thing. Even as people nearby started to panic, Loki ignored them and extracted a tool from his coat, watching as it opened up and then slammed it down over the man's eye so that Barton would have a good scan of the man's eye.

When another guard tried to come at Loki from behind, Phoenix grabbed him and threw him across the room, watching calmly as his head cracked against the wall. When she turned her attention back to Loki, he seemed to be finished with the man, letting him go and not even paying attention to the man now on the ground with one eye. He was already heading outside, and, as always, she followed, watching as his suit morphed into his more regal armor, a green cape dripping down his shoulders and back, head held high as his helmet appeared, the two horns on the top making him look even more giant than he already was. His walking stick also morphed, turning into the now familiar scepter.

Even though this was a serious moment, and she was supposed to be on her guard for what would likely be an approaching 'superhero' of some sort. She had known that, once the Tesseract was taken, Fury would start calling on other people from around the world, asking them for help. Loki had come to the same conclusion. She wanted to see these other humans and see what they had to offer.

"That is magnificent armor," she said to him as they walked toward a crowd of people outside. "When do I get armor?" I should be thinking of just the task at hand, but it's hard to focus when someone walks near me looking that GOOD and...dangerous even.

He chuckled. "I'll make sure to have something for you, soon," he said. "A queen should have armor, after all, especially one that goes into battle beside her king." Anything would be better for battle than what she was wearing, but she couldn't magically change her clothes like some people that she was with.

Loki walked before the crowd of mortals outside, several clones of him appearing around them to box them in. She had known that he had magic, but that was something that she didn't realize he could do until now. Certainly an interesting ability. "Kneel before me!" Loki called out to them, but they didn't seem to listen or understand, and kept moving, trying to get away. "I said kneel!"

Something clicked in my own head, and from behind him, she shouted, "Knien sie sich!" Loki cast a brief glance back at her, but as they started kneeling, he realized what she said. She was translating for him.

Loki smiled as he looked back out onto the crowd of 'subjects' as they knelt, most keeping their eyes on the ground now. "Is not this simpler?" he asked. "Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

As he spoke, she translated into German in a lower voice, but the crowd could still hear Phoenix. She wanted to make sure that they understood that now, they had a king, someone that would now do the thinking for them. They should be happy, be relieved and thankful.

"Ist das nicht einfacher? Ist das nicht dein natürlicher zustand? Es ist die unausgesprochene wahrheit der menschheit, dass sie unterwerfung sehnen. Der helle verlockungen der freiheit verringert sich ihr leben: Freude in einem verrückten gerangel um macht, nach identität. Sie wurden gemacht, um auszuschließen. Am ende werden sie immer knien." German as a language was fairly close to English. She hadn't spoken it regularly in seventy or so years, but once someone picked things up like that, they are hard to forget. **

"Not to men like you," an old man said, pushing himself off the ground to stand up and stare at Loki. He spoke English, but his accent was thick. He wanted to make sure that Loki understood him and not depend on her to translate for him.

Loki looked...almost amused by the idea of one frail man standing up against him. "There are no men like me," he said with a touch of mirth in his voice.

"There are always men like you," the old man said back defiantly. She wondered if he had personally fought in World War II. That would make him too old to be walking around, though...maybe he grew up in it? He spoke from memory, though. She could see that much. Hitler is why you can't depend on a human to rule over anything: they let their own prejudices get in the way.

Loki smiled. "Look to your elder, people," he said, aiming his scepter at him. "Let him be an example." Just as she watched the scepter, start to power up, she heard someone coming in.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing," said a walking American flag. She turned my head to look at him better. Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, recently unfrozen from under the Arctic ice. Barton had told them about everyone whom they were likely to call. She had known a little about the man, but Barton had been a veritable fountain of information.

"Anyone ever told you that outfit is actually horribly garish?" Phoenix asked, tilting her head at the Captain.

"Stars and stripes are always classic," Rogers retorted with a smirk.

Loki was smirking as well. "Ah, the soldier. A man out of time."

Rogers didn't even bat an eye. "I'm not the one who's out of time." Oh if only he knew. Phoenix saw no use in clean cut all American boys like Steve Rogers, in more ways than one. She wished that he'd go away, even though she had expected him to show up.

Suddenly an aircraft carrier appeared near them, and she could hear the spy Natasha Romanov's voice ring out of it. "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down!" Phoenix knew that she hated those quiet aircrafts for a reason. Nothing that big should be able to sneak up on a person.

Phoenix pursed her lips together for a moment before kicking Rogers in the back, her dress flying up to reveal her shapely leg as her sharp heel dug into his back and forced him down onto his knees. "Kennen sie ihren platz!*" she shouted to him, shouting in German simply because she knew that it would be an extra dig to him.

Loki grinned. "Yes...kneel," he said to Rogers.

"Not today!" Rogers growled back, flipping himself back up on his feet, kicking out at Loki and knocking him down.

Loki managed quickly to jump back up, shooting her a look before starting to fight Rogers. She knew what she was supposed to do, even though she really didn't want to do it. While Loki distracted Rogers and Romanov, she was supposed to fall back. He was supposed to be the shining beacon that they went after for right now, while she was supposed to slink back and 'lead the troops' while he stirred up trouble with the superheroes. She hated the idea of skulking away like a coward, but she did as she was told, even as her fists tightened enough to cause her nails to press into her skin and draw blood as she did, especially when she saw Tony Stark, or Iron Man, appear out of bloody nowhere and watched as Loki raised his hands in surrender.

Damn this was going to be hard. At least they'd always know where he was. They knew every movement that the craft S.H.I.E.L.D. had, and Loki had taken the time to show her a few other 'tricks' to keep watch as well…

** (Author's notes: Having people start to follow the story warms my little black heart! I do a little dance every time I get a notification saying that someone else has put an alert on this story or added it to their favorites list. Yay! Now, onto other things.

Something always bugs me about American movies: why do they expect people in other countries to know English? I may be able to identify when someone is speaking another language to me, but that doesn't mean I have a clue as to what these people are saying. I figured this would be a good time for Loki to have a translator, and Phoenix would have been around long enough to pick up more than enough languages to function anywhere that she wanted. I DO admit that I don't know any German, though. I did this through Google Translator, so I apologize for any grammar mistakes. Online translators don't always get grammar correct.)

*(Kennen Sie Ihren Platz! - Know your place!)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Rescue

Phoenix emitted a low growl as she paced her room. As soon as she had gotten back, she had changed out of the dress as soon as she had gotten back to their headquarters, now wearing a pair of cutoff shorts and a white tank. She felt like she was boiling alive in her skin, and was wearing only the bits of clothing now because she didn't know if anyone was going to come in and need her. She was in charge while Loki was away, although her best course of action right now was to follow his plans. While Selvig was finishing his own preparations for the full device needed to conjure up the portal, others were packing up so that they could move. Forces would be sent to New York, while others would come with her and Barton to retrieve Loki from that aircraft.

She was extra hot right now because she was angry. She didn't like the fact that she had to leave Loki behind. Even when she had worked as an agent for S.H.I.E.L.D., she hadn't enjoyed being sneaky. She had to admit that she much preferred running straight into a battle rather than sneaking up and stabbing someone in the back, if only because she enjoyed the look on a person's face when she did. She had been good at her job at S.H.I.E.L.D., but it had been more in an enforcement capacity. People like Barton and Romanov were the more sneaky sneaky, stab stab types.

There was a knock at her door, and she wiped at her sweat drenched skin and yelled, 'Come!" She took a deep breath, wanting to get out of here already, even though they had been told to wait a certain amount of time before coming in, guns ablazing.

Barton walked inside the room. "Selvig is ready to move," he said, his blue glazed eyes gazing forward as if they weren't seeing anything.

"Then have him move for New York," she told him. "That means we can move, too," she said with a grim smile. They could trace Loki by his scepter and the energy it emitted. Barton also knew the layout of the aircraft they were searching for and had explained it to them in detail. They knew where they were likely keeping Loki: in a cell that had originally been made for Dr. Bruce Banner if he decided to _get testy_.

"Now get out so I can change," she told him, and Barton nodded, leaving without a word. She needed to be dressed for a rescue mission, not a summer day on a lake, even if the tight Kevlar clothing made her naturally sweat even more.

She pulled the sweat drenched clothing from her body, wanting a cold shower but knowing that they didn't have time for one. She changed into her her battle clothing, loading two pistols and strapping them to her sides and them, as an afterthought, grabbing a large hunting knife and strapping it to her thigh. That would be plenty for her, as she could tear most humans to pieces. She'd highly enjoy getting her hands on that Rogers, but she also knew that she shouldn't let herself get side tracked.

Her, Barton, and a few others gathered into a smallish aircraft, staying mostly silent as the plane flew. She kept her eyes on a small screen that was telling them where to go, relaxing inch by tight inch as they drew closer to the little blip on the screen. When they were close, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ship filtered into view, she waited as Barton filed a missile at it, taking out one of the engines. She watched as the giant ship lurched in the air, waiting while Barton took care to land on the surface.

As soon as they were landed and she was out of the plane, she shouted orders. She was going to grab Loki's weapon at its location before meeting one of the operatives at his cage. They couldn't just get him, blow a few things up, and leave without the weapon, after all.

Orders given, everyone rushed off in different directions, Phoenix pulling out her pistol and shooting as soon as she saw someone rushing at her, not even bothering to look at a face. This was not a time for killing for fun. It was all business.

When she reached the lab that the scepter was in, she noticed there was a large hole in the floor. Leaping over it nimbly, she grabbed the weapon, taking a moment to admire it in her hand, enjoying the feel of the large scepter before leaping back across the hole. She felt the ship lurch again as another engine failed. This needed to be quick, as the ship wasn't going to be in the air for long now.

Running to the containment area, she found the room that Loki was being kept in. He was already out of the cage, and had apparently trapped his brother, Thor, in it as well, but there was a slight snag in the situation. Someone had a weapon aimed at Loki, keeping him away from the pad that would likely drop the cell out into the sky.

She didn't recognize him from behind, but, when she heard his voice, she knew who it was: Agent Phil Coulson. "You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent The Destroyer." While no one else was paying attention to her, she saw that Loki spotted her. She wasn't good at sneaking up on people, but now was a time that it was required.

" Even I don't know what it does. Do you wanna find out?" Coulson said, but, before he could pull the trigger on the giant gun, Phoenix got close, using the pointed side of the scepter instead of blasting him with a bolt of the energy, slamming it through his chest from behind.

She smiled at Loki as she heard Thor scream, twisting the scepter a little before pulling it out of Coulson, watching as he fell to the floor. "I like this weapon," she said with relish. "Can I have a weapon like this?" she asked him.

She watched Loki grin, spinning back toward Thor. "I like her, Thor. She's feisty." A look of concern then spread across his face. "I'm sorry, how forgetful of me. I should introduce you to your soon to be _sister-in-law_, after all."

She turned to Thor and smirked at him. "The future Queen Phoenix, at your service," she said to him with an exaggerated bow, still holding the blood soaked weapon. As she stood back up, she handed the weapon over to Loki.

Shaking, Thor looked the both of them over. "I did not think that you could share power so easily, brother," he said, his voice rumbling with emotion.

"Second, not sharing," she corrected him. "Even a queen has to know her place, after all."

"Another reason why I like her," Loki said to Thor. "She knows true authority." He finished punching in to code to drop the cage. "Goodbye, Thor."

She waved to him as the cage dropped down and out into the sky. She was going to suggest that they get going when she heard Coulson speak again. "You're gonna lose," he wheezed.

They both turned back to face Coulson. "Are we?" Loki asked. Phoenix couldn't help but notice the flutter inside of her when Loki said 'we' instead of just 'I.' When did that start happening?

"It's in your nature," Coulson remarked, a touch of blood starting to drip from his mouth.

Loki looked almost confused by that statement. "You're heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?" he asked.

"You lack conviction," Coulson told him simply.

"I don't think I..." Loki didn't finish. She didn't catch Coulson's movements for the trigger until the blast, sending Loki flying backward.

"So that's what it does," Coulson said, more to himself, barely seeming to notice as Phoenix kicked the weapon out of his hands before going to Loki, who had been blasted through a wall.

She offered him a hand to help him up. "No offense, but you shouldn't monologue like that. We're not doing Shakespeare here," she told him.

"Who's that?" Loki asked as she helped him off of the ground.

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. We need to go."

_

They had to leave the ship without Barton. It seemed like a waste, but they were in a hurry and they still had someone who could pilot the aircraft that they were making their getaway in. Phoenix and Loki sat beside one another, mere inches apart, and, after a few moments of relishing in that they weren't on that large airship anymore, she turned to look him over, thinking to look for injuries.

"They didn't hurt you, did they?" she asked, thinking along the lines of torture in order to get information. She knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't exactly follow the Geneva Convention.

He seemed to understand what she meant by that. "They didn't have much time to focus on me before they were turning and sniping at one another," he said to her with a smirk.

She returned his grin. "And I'm sure that you didn't have anything to do with that at all," she said in a light voice. Satisfied that he was alright, she sat back and shut her eyes, cooled a bit by his silken chuckle, even as she had to fight the urge to tear off her suit. It was something of a heat flash that she going through. Too much anger and uselessness to immediately go away with one completed mission.

She felt his chilled fingers against her forehead, suppressing the urge to purr even as she turned her face toward him unconsciously. "You feel feverish," she heard him say softly.

"I always do," she replied.

"More so," he added. His touch was helping, but she still felt unreasonably warm. "My Queen isn't getting ill, is she?"

She had to pull her brain away from focusing too much on how his caresses felt against her face to think to answer. "I get warmer when I'm angry," she said. Even though her eyes weren't open, so she couldn't see his face, the question seemed to hang in the air. _Why?_ "I don't do well at deception games, I suppose. It's...uncomfortable having to watch you surrender like that."

"Only a ruse," he said, his voice barely above a whisper now. His finger slid down her full mouth, brushing against her lips and causing them to part. "Won't need to happen again."

She opened her eyes to look up at him again. "Good. I'm a bit tired of games," she admitted. "Now I want full action," she told him, eyes flashing.

"Soon you'll get all the action that you can stand," he told her.

_

The pilot took them straight to New York, to Stark Tower. This was where they had the proper energy needed to open the portal, and it was just a fun idea to use Stark's own place against him. She had wanted to find some place to sleep, as she knew that tomorrow would be their big day, but Loki seemed to have other plans, taking her by the arm and pulling her into one of the rooms that Stark seemed to have stored art work that hadn't been hung up yet.

"What are we doing here?" she asked, trying to keep a whine out of her voice. After spending so long so tense she wanted to crash into a bed and get some rest.

"I want to show you something." She wondered how many women he had turned to complete butter with that voice in the past. She felt like completely melting and sinking to the floor.

"You've taken me into a room full of art. Desperately interesting," she rumbled. She worried that he might be agitated with her snark, but his look showed that he was just amused.

"No...I want to show you how to _do_ something," he corrected her, moving behind her as he pointed her toward the stacks of art on the floor. "You have the potential for magic. I can sense it inside of you. I also know that you can sense magic around you." She hadn't realized that he had noticed that, but he seemed to notice everything about her. "I think we can use that heat inside of you to your advantage."

His hands slid down her arms, pushing out her hands directly in front of her chest and clasping them together, palms facing out. "Repeat after me," he said huskily in her ear. Anger wasn't the only reason that her temperature went up, and with him pressed up against her and holding her like this, right now it was boiling. He said foreign words in her ear, a language that she wasn't familiar with, so she could only assume that it came from Asgard, although she really had no clue. She repeated the words slowly after him, and, when she said the third and final word, blue flames shot out of her hands, igniting the paintings in front of her.

Her eyes light up at the flames and she laughed, cackling madly as the fire licked up the paintings. Before she could truly relish, though, the sprinkler system above them clicked on, dousing the paintings, her, and Loki in a torrent of water.

Another giggle bubbled forth as she turned around and faced him, realizing that he was practically cradling her in his arms. She turned her head up to the torrent of water and shut her eyes, enjoying the cooling spray for a moment. When she looked back at Loki, she saw a look on his face she didn't quite recognize...pride maybe? "Can I assume that was correct?" she asked him.

"Quite," he said with a nod. "Most are not able to produce results like that on their first try."

A blush crept up on her already heated cheeks. Expelling that fire had seemingly done nothing for the temperature that was boiling inside of her. Even the water, which was going down to a trickle, wasn't doing much. "Only because I had you here to help me," she said back to him. "And the fact that I'm a fucking *furnace*," she grumbled, still resisting the urge to tear her clothing off simply to get some relief. Loki hadn't even given her the chance to change her clothes when they got here, although she wasn't regretting what they did. Now the suit was clinging to her even more, if such a thing were possible.

"Don't speak of that as if it were a bad thing," he said to her, leaning in and nuzzling against her neck in a way that made her dip her head back. "You're so wonderfully heated." What he was doing to her was not helping in the slightest. She could feel his fingers tangling in her hair as he kept himself nestled in her neck. She let out a moan, desperately enjoying the feel of him against her.

When she felt him still, she whined, only to realize that they were no longer alone. She sat up and stepped back from him, starring at the door. One of their mind controlled agents was standing in the doorway. "We heard the sprinklers come on and wanted to check to see if everything was alright."

With a growl, Phoenix thrust her hands out in front of her and repeated the chant that Loki had just taught her, setting the man aflame. "Put out that fire," she snarled at the man on fire. She stepped over the flaming man as others rushed to put him out, now ready to go to her room and take a real shower: a freezing COLD shower.

"Remind me not to anger you," Loki remarked as she walked away. "Or I'm going to regret teaching you to do that."

She looked back on him and smirked. "Oh I'd never do that to you, my King."

As soon as she was out of his direct sight, she had ran across the building, needing to find some private quarters for herself that including a shower. Once she did and was satisfied that she was alone, she unzipped the outfit that she was wearing and tore it off, kicking it away. Walking into the bathroom adjoined to her room, she couldn't help but admire it for a second as she treaded toward the shower. Stark had taste, she had to give him that.

She twisted the knob to the shower, only turning on the cold faucet and stepping inside, shutting the glass door behind herself and shuddering when she felt the frigid spray hit her face and body. Her body was screaming to be touched, but what she truly needed right now was to calm down. When she felt suitably washed and cooled to a normal temperature for her, she shut the faucet off, opening up the glass doors to get out and get a towel, only coming face to face with Loki.

She shrieked in surprise, automatically taking a step back and clutching at her heart. "A _knock_ would have been appreciated," she told him, a laugh escaping her lips.

"Towel?" Loki asked, holding up a fluffy white towel for her to grab.

It was then that she remembered she was nude.

Covering herself with her arms would be worthless at this point, as he had gotten more than an eyeful (and they were technically betrothed). She just took the towel from him with a grateful nod and wrapped it around her body, wringing the water out of her hair before stepping out of the shower. So much for cooling off.

She walked back into the bedroom, feeling him follow her and she felt the need to figure out something to say. "Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked him.

His hand brushed up her arm and she felt the water immediately dry from her skin and hair. That was certainly a neat and useful trick. "I wish to sleep next to you tonight," he said, his hand reaching up and tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Spend the night lying next to my Queen before our glorious battle tomorrow."

She smiled. She walked toward the bed, pulling back the blanket and sheet and dropping her towel before sliding into the bed. Taking that as the invitation that it was, she watched him with outward calm (although not inward) as he stripped out of his leather armor, soon as naked as she was, and slid into the bed next to her. She hadn't known what his intentions exactly were, but, when he pulled her down and closer in the bed, she realized that he'd actually meant sleep. _Damn._

He seemed to read her mind again and chuckled. "After tomorrow's battle, we celebrate," he purred, lips pressed against her head as his arms tightened around her. She heard him mumbling something as his thumb pressed against her temple. "Tonight we need sleep." She was out before he finished saying 'sleep.'


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Blowing Shit Up  
When she awoke from what had been the best sleep of her life, her first instinct was to reach for the body that she expected to be next to hers. Loki was gone, but his scent, though faint, still remained. He hadn't left that long ago. She had awoken to the sun rising, which meant that he had woken up even earlier.

She thought about pouting that he was gone, but they had too much to do today for her to be sulking that she woke up in bed alone. She pushed herself out of bed, taking a moment to stretch as soon as she stood up. When done stretching, she realized that she had been left a present.

A leather outfit was set out for her. The same colors were in it, but it was molded to fit her and cling to every curve. When she picked it up to inspect it further, she realized that there was a note pinned to it as well.

_I promised you a set of armor. I hope it suits. _

_L. _

She couldn't help but grin, folding up the note and putting it in a pocket of the armor. She wasn't usually a sentimental creature, but she already knew that she'd be hanging onto that note for a long time.

She first slid on the black undergarment, then slowly helping herself into green leather bodice, thankful that the golden snaps were in the front rather than the back, or she wouldn't be able to put herself into it alone. If it weren't for the black lace up boots that were sitting next to the armor, it would have left her legs exposed, but she had complained before that she didn't like anything getting in the way of her legs, which made her smile that maybe he had remembered that.

Ye gods, she was SUCH a little girl! This was not the time to get to thinking about things like that. Too many emotions were just going to cause problems today. She wasn't even worried about herself. She didn't want anything to happen to Loki because she was distracted and being an idiot.

When she heard someone come into the room, she was grateful that she had gotten dressed. She smiled when she turned and saw that it was Loki. "Come on. I think we're about to have company soon," he said to her, offering her his hand. She slipped her hand into his and he led her out of the room. "Do you like your armor?" he asked her as they walked toward what appeared to be a bar area.

"It's perfect," she said to him with a smile. She heard what sounded like a minor explosion outside, turning to look just as Tony Stark was landing on the building, the beat up armor that he was wearing being pulled away from him to reveal the human underneath.

Phoenix tilted her head at him as Stark walked inside, as if...well, he owned the place, which she supposed that he at least thought he still did. He headed straight for the bar, reaching for alcohol to presumably pour himself a drink.

"Not sure if right now is the time for a drink, Stark," she remarked to him, more just curious than anything else as she watched him. She personally had no doubt about who would win today. So now, she was studying him as if he were a particularly fascinating pet.

"It's always time for a drink," Stark replied with a grin, finishing pouring his own glass. She assumed that it was something expensive, as she couldn't imagine the billionaire Tony Stark drinking anything cheap.

"Tell me, have you arrived to appeal to our humanity?" Loki asked Stark.

"Considering neither of you are much in the way of human, I don't think that will work," Stark said, taking a sip of his drink. "I'm actually planning on threatening you."

"Probably should have kept on your armor for that one," Phoenix told him, already feeling the urge to pounce, but, as Loki seemed almost relaxed right now, she was doing her best to control herself as well.

"Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage," Stark said with what sounded like a verbal shrug. He looked up at Loki. "And you've got the blue stick of destiny." He then looked at her. "And you've got a whole new wardrobe. Nice legs, by the way." She rolled her eyes even as she saw Loki stiffen, his hand tightening around his scepter. "Would either of you like a drink?"

"Keep looking at my legs and I'll strangle you with your own intestines," she told Stark, narrowing her eyes at him.

It pleased her to see Stark freeze for a moment when she threatened him, trying to hide his discomfort behind taking another sip of his drink. "You two make a cute couple, by the way. It's too bad that you're both shit house crazy."

"Stalling us won't change anything," Loki said, finding a way to get back to the matter at hand.

"No, no, no! Threatening. No drink? You sure? I'm having a few," Stark told them. She was pretty sure that the man was a raging alcoholic. The few times she had seen him before all of this started (in public places that S.H.I.E.L.D. had assigned her to watch him from afar), he had always reeked of drink.

"The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that. What have I to fear?" Loki asked him. Loki was right about one thing: Stark was stalling right now. She supposed that the rest of his friends would be here shortly. The portal was being open as they chatted, so anything he had to say was just letting more of them get ready to come through.

"The Avengers." Both Loki and Phoenix looked at each other in mild amusement when Stark said that. "It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type of thing."

"Yes, I've met them," Loki said. What she knew about them just bored her, mostly.

"Yeah, takes us awhile to get any traction, I'll give you that one." Almost as if this reveal of a weakness was nothing to Stark. "But, let's do a headcount here. Your brother, the demigod." With the sneer that crossed Loki's lips, she was amazed that he didn't punch Stark in his face for mentioned Thor. "A super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins." Stark stopped, taking another sip of his drink as Loki walked to the window to watch the portal opener that Selvig had created. It was then that, while Stark thought they were BOTH distracted, she saw out of the corner of her eye that Stark was snapping on bracelets. They must have something to do with his suit of armor.

"And you two crazy kids, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

She rolled her eyes. "Look at me, I'm shaking in my new boots," she said, waggling a foot at him for a moment. "That was the plan, Stark."

"Not a great plan," Stark replied. He finished his drink, but held onto the glass for a moment. "When they come," he stopped for a dramatic pause, "and they will, they'll come for you," he said, pointing to the both of them.

Loki grinning and turned back toward Stark, walking closer while still holding his scepter. "We have an army," he said.

"We have a Hulk," Stark retorted.

"I thought that the beast had run off," Loki said to him. Now the two men were only about a foot apart.

Stark shook his head. "You're missing the point. There's no throne, there is no version of this, where you two come out on top. **Maybe** your army comes and **maybe **it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it."

She smirked. "Pretty speech," she said. She watched as Loki took a step closer. "You're not quite the wordsmith you think you are, though. He's the one who's the god of lies, after all." She pointed to Loki, who was grinning as well.

"Besides," Loki remarked. "How will your friends have time for all of this avenging, when they're fighting you?" He tapped the scepter to Stark's chest. Instead of the predictable turning of his will, though, she heard an audible 'clinking' sound.

Stark let out a nervous laugh, seemingly a little shocked himself that it didn't work. "Guess it's true. I don't have a heart." He looked up over Loki's shoulder at her. "Or does he have performance problems?"

She snarled, but Loki had her beat, grabbing Stark by the throat and throwing him across the room. "JARVIS, any time now," Stark called out before Loki stalked over and grabbed him by his throat again.

"You will fall," Loki sneered, this time throwing the human through his window, glass flying everywhere as the mortal flew. Another of his suits flew out the window after him, likely having to do with the bracelets as well.

Too soon, Stark was flying back up, this time in his suit. "There's someone else you pissed off as well," Stark said. "His name is Phil." He sent one of his own energy blasts into the room, Loki grabbing her and pulling her out of the way of the direct blast.

As plaster fell around them, they both looked out the window, watching as Stark flew off to deal with the now coming army that was starting to filter out of the portal that Selvig had opened. "I really hate that man," she snarled, shaking her head to get the plaster out of her hair.

"Don't worry," Loki said, tilting her chin up at him with his hand. "He'll fall, just like the rest."

Despite the situation, she was about to press her lips against his when she heard a roar from outside, sounding like it came from the blond haired brother. _Thor. _"Your brother has miserable timing," she grumbled.

"One of his calling cards," Loki agreed, standing to his feet and pulling her up with him. The two of them walked outside, seeing the 'mighty' Thor standing there, hammer in hand again.

"Loki!" Thor called out. "Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it!"

She could see the Chitauri already flying out and around on their little vehicles. She had an idea.

"You can't!" Loki replied to his brother. "There is no stopping it. There is only the war!"

"So be it," Thor snapped.

"You have this, right?" she asked Loki. When he nodded, she smiled. "Good. I'm going to go and blow some shit up." She ran up to the side of the ledge, jumping off and landing on one of the vehicles. "Go find something to kill!" she shouted to the driver, throwing him off so that she could take the helm. This thing was hers now.

It took her a few minutes truly to get the hang of it. Thankfully, the issue of balance and turning wasn't too far off from a motorcycle. When she found a firing mechanism that allowed for her to fire off blasts of energy similar to what Loki fired out of his scepter, she used them to her full advantage, firing off several blasts at any nearby buildings other than Stark Towers. She barely even looked to see what she was firing at around the city. She just cackled madly when she saw things explode. She hadn't felt so _alive _in so long, possibly even ever. This was what she was meant for. It was wonderful to feel some semblance of being where she was supposed to be.

As she had forgotten to tie back her hair, it flew in the wind as she flew this contraption around. She wondered if Loki could see her, dark brown hair flying while she cackled madly at every little thing that exploded around her. She must have been a sight.

She flew back by Stark Tower just in time to catch another snippet of conversation between him and his brother. "Look at this! Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule?" Thor shouted to Loki. Thor seemed completely oblivious to her being so close, but Loki had noticed her. She hovered quietly for a moment, tilting her head to watch.

"It's too late," Loki told him, his voice lowered. "It's too late to stop it."

"No," Thor replied. "We can, together."

Smirking, Phoenix fired off a shot just past Thor to distract him. While he was looking away, Loki jammed a knife in his gut. "Sentiment," he snarled to Thor, pushing away from him and jumping on the craft with her. As she took off, she then noticed that he no longer had the scepter, but she still had plenty of firepower left in this thing, so no worries.

She flew off with him, listening as he directed her now. Now her mayhem wasn't random, instead directed directly toward the 'Avengers,' mainly in an effort to keep them distracted from trying to find a way to close the portal, making them have to move around and lose focus, occasionally getting attacked by the army that was still flowing down from the portal.

There had been an enjoying time of following Loki's orders, but it was short lived. She heard something flying through the air, something unfamiliar, and turned just in time to watch Loki catch an arrow in the air that had been aimed for his eye.

"Is that Barton's?" she asked. "Because usually his…"

She didn't get to finish, as the arrow tip exploded, catching the vehicle on fire and causing her to crash back into Stark Tower.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: But You Promised

The blast sent them crashing back into Stark Tower, although Phoenix landed several floors below Loki. He had landed in the same area that they had talked to Stark before, but she had landed in an area that she assumed was made for offices that Stark would later rent out.

She flew through a window and rolled several times, landing on her back finally. With a groan, she pushed herself off the ground, trying to bring some sense back into her head that the fall had knocked out.

When she was on her feet, she gritted her teeth in pain. Something in her leg was sprained or broken, she actually wasn't sure which. It would heal eventually on its own, but she didn't have time to wait for anything like that. She wished that she could fly right now. It seemed like half of those idiots outside could fly in some way. Instead, she limped her way to the stairwell, not having the patience to wait and deal with anything like elevators.

As she ran up the stairs, she heard a commotion from where she knew that Loki was. It seemed that Banner had arrived, and he had gotten angry, from the loud stomping that she could hear.

"Enough!" She could hear the pure exasperation in Loki's voice when he screamed at Banner. "You are all of you beneath me! I am God, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by..." She didn't hear him finish, but she did hear smashing noises. Not good.

She tried moving faster, if that was at all possible. The pain in her leg was searing, though. When she found the door to the right floor, she twisted her leg as she moved to open it, causing her to scream. This was not how this day was supposed to go. This was supposed to be their day of glory.

When she got to the bar room, it was in even more disarray than before. More glass had been shattered, and the floor was covered with several craters, Loki on his back in one of them.

Staggering, she made her way to him, collapsing on the floor next to him. "Come on, Loki, get up," she gritted out, forcing herself to sit up enough to try to help him up.

She offered her hands to him and tried pulling him up, but after moving him a few inches, he screamed in pain, and she released him, setting him back on the ground. "You need to get out of here," he said to her, breathing heavily.

"What?" It actually took a second for it to click. "No! No, I'm not leaving here without you. Now help me get you the hell up!" She was trying to be calm, but her voice was coming out shrill and panicked.

She reached for him again but this time he grabbed her wrists to stop her. "I can't move right now. I think they've found a way to shut down the Tesseract." She shut her eyes and concentrated for a moment and realized that he was right. She could feel it shutting down. DAMN IT! THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE _THEIR _DAY!

She opened her eyes and looked back down when she heard him speaking again. "I won't have both of us captured. You need to go," he said to her. "I'll get back. I swear it."

She bit down on the inside of her cheek to force back to tears she felt prickling her eyes. "You promised I wouldn't have to leave you again," she said. "You promised me!"

He pulled her down against his chest and held her for a moment while she let out a sob. She didn't want to do this, even though she knew that he was making sense. She knew that there was a better chance of her getting away as she was the one less hurt, and with one of them out, they could search for the other. She just didn't want to leave him like this!

"I'm sorry to break that promise to you," he said to her. "I won't break this promise, though." He forced her to sit up and look at him. "We **will** be reunited. I promise."

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down a touch. "We better," she said to him. "If you break this promise, I'll eviscerate you." Only with them could that be taken in any sort of good way. She moved up, finally pressing her lips against his and taking that kiss she had been denied for too long.

She had expected the kiss to be briefer, but he held her in place, snaking his tongue into her mouth and giving her the kiss that they both deserved right now, full of intensity and passion and promises of more as soon as they were reunited.

When they finally broke apart, she could only stare for a moment. Apparently he was called 'silver tongued' for more reason that his ability to spin words. Finally, she said, "I'll see you soon," before turning and fleeing the room. She felt like a fucking coward, but this was what Loki, her king, wanted her to do.

And his wish was her command.

She had watched from afar, hidden as all of the others found Loki as he finally was able to pull himself up. Despite the fury inside of her at watching them lord over him when they should be bowing at his feet, she couldn't help but chuckle when he asked them for a drink.

She wanted to die when she watched as Rogers roughly jerked him up off the floor, tears welling up as she saw the wince of pain on his face, taking him away to what she presumed was some cell.

She hung around long enough the next day to watch him go, being taken with his brother and the Tesseract back to Asgard. When she saw the muzzle that they had placed on him, she had nearly lost it. Even though she was still walking with a painful limp, she almost burst from her hiding place, ready to take them all on to get Loki away from them.

Somehow, Loki had known she was there.

_Don't_. She heard his voice say. She briefly looked around, confused, but, when she looked back at him, his eyes were trained on her, and she realized that he was talking to her telepathically.

_Why not? _She saw no reason to not attack them and take back what was hers now.

_You're still hurt and outnumbered. Plus, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are never far. _She knew that he was right. Anything that she did now would likely just result in her own incarceration. One of them still needed to be out. _I'll send you a way to bring me back, and then we'll get our revenge_.

She nodded, relaxing a touch to show that she wouldn't move anymore. She watched with more tears in her eyes as him and his brother left this world before moving away again. She needed to get away as far as she could, where S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't find her while she worked on a way to get him back where he belonged, with her.

Epilogue: Tantrum 

_Somewhere in Argentina, South America_., _two weeks later_.

She had traveled on foot most of the way, hitchhiking the rest, so as to pop up in as few of ways as possible on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar. It would do her no good to escape from New York only to be caught boarding a damn plane. She ended up picking Argentina simply because the cool air of where she picked made her think of Loki.

Her new home was in the mountains. She had few possessions before her move, so she had to eventually buy all sorts of odds and ends that she needed to supply for a home. Still, she was wretchedly lonely. She had been alone for so long that she had completely blocked out what it was to be with someone, and she had never been with someone that she had considered an equal. Without Loki now, all she wanted to do was mourn.

She was doing research into ways of bringing Loki back, but, as she was a terrible novice at magic, she barely even knew where to start looking. Tonight was another night of research, and a frustrating one at that. She was on her third bottle of local made wine, something home brewed that was more potent than anyone could buy in stores. It was still barely taking edge off her frustration.

Her final book proving fruitless, she screamed in anger and hurled the bottle of alcohol at the wall, barely paying attention as it shattered and dipped down the wall and into the floor. "I'm worthless!" she yelled, pushing the books off the table she was sitting at and then lifting up the table by its edge, turning it over in a fit of rage.

Anger spent, she slumped against the wall, sliding down and hitting the floor. Right now, what she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and shut down.

The only thing that stopped her was seeing a puff of green smoke outside of the corner of her eye. She looked over as it dissipated, seeing a stack of books that had come out of nowhere, with a note on top. She reached for the note, opening it up to read.

_When you're done with your tantrum, I think these might be useful. _

_Stay strong. _

_L. _

She looked back at the books in shock. Not only could he see her, he could send things to her? She didn't care how it happened, it gave her heart.

She reached for the first book, opening it up. She started to smile as she read. This was exactly what she needed!

**To be continued in **_**Revenge**_**.**

(Author's note: And I leave you on a cliffhanger! Muahahaha! I'm a terrible person, I know. I already have the first part of the sequel plotted in my mind, so you won't have to wait long! I'm so happy with all of the reviews that I've gotten! This is actually quickly turning into my most reviewed story! *dances* I will go ahead and give a minor spoiler and say that Loki will be back in the first chapter, so no worries! Phoenix refuses to be parted for too long.

Till then!)


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